U.S. official visits once-closed Russian N-plant

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

So, we're going to fund (if approved) 7 billion $$ next year alone??? 
And why are we going to expend so much when those funds could be 
spent here within our own DOE programs???

U.S. official visits once-closed Russian N-plant
  
MOSCOW, Aug 30 (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson 
hailed cooperation with Russia on Wednesday after visiting a once-
closed nuclear arms plant to see an arms conversion programme at 
work. 

Richardson told Reuters he had visited part of the Avangard nuclear 
weapons plant in the closed town of Sarov. A part of the plant has 
been separated and will be turned into a factory to make kidney 
dialysis equipment. 

``The significance is that it is an important milestone because I am 
the first American high official to get into any Russian nuclear 
weapons plant,'' he said. 

This showed that even after a period of difficult relations, Russia 
and the United States were still cooperating, he said. 

Russian-U.S. ties were hurt by NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia during 
the Kosovo crisis, although they have recently been on the mend. 

Richardson said the project at the Avangard plant was part of a U.S.-
Russian scheme called Nuclear Cities, aimed at transferring workers 
from the weapons sector into industries for civilian use. 

``Our objective is to cover over 10 Russian nuclear cities and we 
have now been involved in two,'' Richardson said. 

The U.S. Department of Energy said in a statement it would spend $7 
million funding the Sarov plant project in fiscal year 2001 if it won 
Congressional approval. 

Contacted by telephone, the department could not immediately say how 
much had already been spent on the project. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
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